by Jason Bowman
I still remember my first introduction to him.
It was March of 2000. I’d just been offered a position at APA following my second interview. Mr. Bell and fellow APA Founder Larry Hubbart had just finished off a round of Friday afternoon golf. They were no longer involved day-to-day in APA, but they happened to stop by APA Headquarters as they did from time to time to visit with the staff.
To be clear, Mr. Bell would have just as soon be called “Terry.” And most of us generally did call him by his first name, but occasionally we’d also refer to him as “Mr. Bell” as a term of sincere respect and gratitude. It was not an expected salutation; it was earned.
During my first interactions with Mr. Bell in my early days at APA, he struck me as distinctly different from anyone I’d ever met. At first, I couldn’t really pinpoint what made him so different. But over time, I came to understand that Mr. Bell was a true visionary, someone with a clear vision of what could be and who was driven to make that vision a reality.
Although he’d retired as President of the APA a few years prior to my joining the organization, Mr. Bell was still actively involved in the company as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Despite his tremendous success, he was always humble and kind to everyone he encountered, be it a staff member, a franchise owner or an APA member.
Mr. Bell would pop into the office every now and then, unannounced, and make his way from office to office, chatting for a few minutes with each staff member about their families and their lives. He would do the same at our events in Las Vegas, wandering the tournament room and striking up conversations with event participants to gauge their experience.
Mr. Bell was a family man, and he brought that same feeling of family to the APA offices and the entire APA network of League Operators and members.
Mr. Bell cared deeply about the organization he and Hubbart founded in 1979. He cared so much, in fact, that when then-APA President Renee Lyle retired in 2019, Mr. Bell returned to APA as President at the age of 75, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the entire organization until he named Greg Fletcher President.
I had never expected to work alongside Mr. Bell, and though his return as President lasted only a few months, I treasured the time I had to listen and learn from him.
I also saw how much the future success of APA weighed on Mr. Bell. He was never content with the decades of success APA had achieved; he always had an eye on the future to ensure what he and Hubbart built would continue to thrive for generations to come.
When I got the news of Mr. Bell’s passing, it wasn’t unexpected, but the pain cut deep like a knife nonetheless.
In the days to come, the halls that Mr. Bell used to walk will be filled with great sorrow and sadness as we grieve the loss of a beloved man many of us could have never envisioned living without.
But we’ll keep pushing forward, just as he would have expected, ensuring that APA continues to adhere to its core value of bringing people together and making the world a little bit better place for generations to come.
Thank you for everything Mr. Bell, you can rest easy now, we can take it from here.
